Floor-board set



. (No Model.)

G. A. STEWART. FLOOR BOARDISBT.

No. 523,647. Patented July 24, 18 94.

INVENTEIR:

; Z4, WTN E5 5 E s UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGEA. STEWART, OF CANTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

FLOOR-BOIARDSET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 523,647, dated July24:, 1894.

Application filed January 3, 1894- Serial No. 495,526. (No model.)

To alt whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE A. STEWART, of Canton, in the county ofNorfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Floor-Board Sets, of which the following is aspecification.

Th1s invention has relation to devices designed for closing up thejoints of floor boards in the process of laying the latter.

It is the object of the invention to provide means for the purposementioned which shall be simple in construction and by means of whichthe boards may be forced squarely into place without liability of movingthe same from horizontal position, or without tipping up the implementin the operation.

To these ends, the invention consistsin the device substantially ashereinafter described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the annexed drawings, and to the lettersmarked thereon, forming a part of this specification, the same lettersdesignating the same parts or features as the case may be wherever theyoccur.

Of the drawings, Figure 1 is a side view of the invention in normalposition. Fig. 2 is a top or plan View of the same. Fig. 3 is a planview showing the cam as moved to move the slide out to its extremelimit. Fig. 4: is a perspective view of Fig. 3.

In the drawings-(r designates a base consisting of a flat bar, providedon its under side near its rear end with spurs b suited to be forcedinto timbers or boards of a building, and having grooves or recesses 0formed in the sides of its forward part, as shown. 7

d designates the head of a slide, which head is adapted to press againstthe edge of floor boards, or against means intermediate of the head andboards for closing up the joints of the latter. Extending back from thehead at are rails e adapted to move in the grooves or recesses c and tobe guided thereby, and f is a cross-bar connected with the rear ends ofthe upper sides of the rails.

g designates a cam pivoted on the upper face of the base between therear edge of the head d and the cross-bar f, the said cam being providedwith a handle 2' set in a socket j formed on the upper face of the cam,whereby the latter may be turned on its pivot to force the slide out onthe base from the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2 to that represented inFigs. 3 and 4.

In use the base will be placed upon a joist, sleeper or the under boardsof the floor with the forward edge of the head (1 resting against theedge of the floor board to be set, or against a block or other deviceintermediate of the head and the edge of the floor board, and with thespurs b driven into the under boards or timbers, the cam g may be turnedby means of the handle c', and the'head moved forward on a direct linewith the width of the board with a powerful force.

The fact that the lever is moved horizontally as well as the head d, isan important feature of the invention, since this construction obviatesliability of raising the board operated upon out of horizontal, ortipping up the board-setting device, both of which occurrences areharmful.

Further advantages of my invention are due to the arrangement of thecross-bar f and rails e; the former is directly behind and in contactwith the circular, eccentrically pivoted cam 9 whereby the slide andhead are positively withdrawn by the cam to prepare for a secondoperation; and the location of the rails e in the recesses 0 causes themto be confined between the under side of the cam and the base and beguided thereby. Thus there is no lost motion between any of the parts,nor possibility of disarrangement.

It is obvious that all of the parts of mydevice excepting the handle mayexpediently be made of cast iron, and that other means than that shownmay be provided for attaching the handle to the cam.

The arrangement whereby the handle may be moved either to the right orthe left, and the cam be operated, is important, since the device may beplaced close to the partition or walls at both sides of the room, and beoperated successfully.

Having thus explained the nature of the invention and described a way ofconstructing and using the same, though without at- If need be,anti-friction rolls may be arranged in grooves in the base and guidedtherein by the cam, and a handle for turning the cam, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my r5 name to this specification, inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 23d day of December, A.D. 1893. v

GEORGE A. STEWART.

WVitnesses:

ARTHUR W. GRossLEY, M. W. JACKSON.

